Here's To Us
by timeishealing
Summary: Merlin, he hates weddings. oneshot. NL/LL.


**So here you go. This is dedicated to my friend(coughlovercough), Sam. Sorry that it has such a sucky ending. I kind of ran out of inspiration at the end. So I left it there. Oh well. You all should be glad I made a story in the first place. (;**

**Disclaimer: If I were to own it, I'd probably be sitting in my castle, sipping on a Butterbeer. But I'm not. So there. **

"What a lovely wedding, don't you think?" He practically jumps a mile in the air and the pounding of his heart is surrounding his ears. Darting to the right of him, Neville's eyes find Luna Lovegood standing next to him with a soft smile on her face. She looks beautiful, ravishing really, in her pale pink bridesmaid dress, little rose earrings that bloom before turning back into a bud and repeating, and the white eyeshadow she's pulling off perfectly.

"I suppose so, yeah," He replies back slowly, straightening up and fixing his now loose tie. The former Gryffindor leans back against the wall behind them, smiling as he watches the the groom and bride twirl around the dancefloor, their mirthful laughs and giggles reaching him easily.

She steps back, standing next to him, her posture polite and formal. Amusement shows through his face when he notices that she only comes up to his shoulder. "So, Neville, how have you been?" She asks, looking up at him with those big gray eyes of hers. The room seems to get a little hotter.

How has he been? Hannah dumped him about a month ago, Tom gave him the Leaky Cauldron, McGonagall had given him an opportunity to go into training to replace Professor Sprout as the Herbology Professor.

"Well. Could be worse." Luna gives him a weird look, an unreadable one. He clears his throat, and tugs on his collar which seems to be suffocating him. He has no idea why he's acting so weird.

Wait. Yes he does. He likes Luna. A lot. He's head over heels for her. Has been since fifth year. He thought that maybe Hannah Abbott was the answer to his problem. Besides, if he didn't force them to, who else would go out with him? Hannah liked him, or so he thought, and Luna wasn't looking twice so what was the problem?

The problem was that Hannah, while not being a Ravenclaw, was more intelligent than he thought. Within the span of 4 months, she had found out of his crush and promptly dumped him without so much as a "Bye! See you around!" to comfort him.

Why is it always him?

"And yourself?" He glances at her before watching Hannah smile lovingly at Terry Boot. He doesn't feel jealousy or sorrow but just an unpleasant feeling of loneliness.

"Wonderful. Are you alright, Neville? You seem to have Wrackspurts all around you," She says with a look of vague concern along with deep thought. Neville remembers that Wrackspurts were the ones that made your mind go fuzzy.

He stands up straight, leaning down to get his cup of Firewhiskey. He takes a swallow of it and feels the burning sensation run down his throat and settle comfortably in his stomach. "I'm fine, Luna. My mind is fuzz free." He smiles at her and she beams back, supremely ecstatic at the fact that he knows the creatures she rambles about.

With a nod, she flounces away, most likely to go congratulate Harry and Hermione on their new marriage.

He sighs and stares into his cup.

Everyone else was already living their lives to the fullest, marrying and adventuring around the world and joining Qudditch teams.

It's six months ago and what had he accomplished?

Neville sets his cup down, shoves his hands into his pockets and walks away from the wall, feeling incredibly disappointed with his life.

Merlin, he hates weddings.

* * *

><p>"How are you enjoying the wedding, Nev?" Ron slurs, stumbling as he hangs his hand on the shoulder of Neville's that is opposite of him.<em> Another thing to add to my hate list,<em> the once chubby boy thinks to himself, _Drunk people._

With a shrug, Ron's hand slips off him and falls to dangle beside the still awkwardly tall man. "Great, mate. How's it feel to be married?" Ron's face splits into a drunken grin and Neville feels a little sick to his stomach, regretting that he ever asked._  
><em>

The ginger hiccups before answering with a, "Bloody hell, Nev!" Did Neville ever mention how much he hates that nickname? "It's amazing! And tonight-"

"Ah, my glass is empty, gotta go refill," Neville splutters before rushing away, face and neck a _lovely_ shade of ripe tomato. He sits down on one of the barstools and asks the bartender for another Firewhiskey.

He should be concerned at how chummy his mouth and this drink are getting but right now, he could care less.

He goes to down another shot of it-

"Hello, Neville."

"MERLIN WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT?" He shouts from the floor, Firewhiskey all over his shirt and face even more red from the embarrassing position he's in right now.

Luna smirks eerily like Malfoy(Hermione once drunkenly stated that Luna was probably Draco's long lost little sister) before grabbing his hand and pulling him up with far less effort he expects. "Sorry. I noticed that you looked like you were bitten by a Heliopath and I reckoned I could help."

Neville blinks.

"Right.. Well, I gotta go change my shirt.."

"Nonsense, are you a wizard or not?" She teases before mumbling a spell that vanishes the stain. He feels kind of stupid, which is a feeling he knows very well. He smiles weakly before sitting back down on his stool, watching as Luna sat beside him.

She sips her champagne daintily. "I love weddings, don't you?" A snort escapes him before he hold back and she laughs, throwing her head back in mirth. Suddenly, it feels like his heart got an adrenaline shot and his stomach is flipping endlessly. At that moments, all he knows is that her laugh is the greatest sound he's ever heard and hopefully he'll hear everyday.

"No, not really."

"Oh, why not?"

Neville shrugs, taking a sip of his new glass. "I don't know. I reckon most single people don't have much fun at weddings." Luna tilts her head at him and he involuntarily smiles.

"I have fun at weddings," She says back, looking dreamily off into space.

"Yes, well, you're, you know, Luna. Brave, wise, amazing Luna," Merlin, why won't his mouth close? "And I'm, you know, Neville."

Luna rolls her eyes uncharacteristically. "Yes, the Neville that never whined to anybody about his unfortunate life. The Neville who never once lost hope and broke down about his parents. The Neville who took torture with a smile. The Neville who indirectly killed the most evil wizard that ever existed. Yes, truly, you're inferior to me." Her voice is laced with sarcasm and he can feel the annoyance bouncing off of her but somehow, he beams.

Remember those rare Gryffindor moments he has had over the year?

This becomes one of them.

"Care to dance?" Luna doesn't look confused or surprised or even a little bit thrown off. Without missing a beat, she replies with a yes and climbs off her stool, smoothing down her lime green dress robes and fixing the lily pad headband she's wearing. He finds it remarkably endearing.

Taking her hand, he leads her out to the dancefloor, grinning as she pretends to look like a stuck-up pureblood. Pulling her close to him, he begins to waltz with her.

Fourth year, he was such a horrible dancer, it was more pathetic than funny. Now, as he dips her, no toes are being stomped and there's no bumbling or awkward crashing. They fit together perfectly.

Before he knows it, the song is ending and the band says a little goodbye before walking off the stage, advancing towards the free bar. Luna steps back, smiling at him like he's the only person on Earth and he thinks this moment is as perfect as it can get.

"I.. uh, want to go get a coffee or something?"

The affectionate chuckle and nod is all he needs.

* * *

><p>"So here's to the groom!" They all cheer before gulping down their bottles of champagne. Confetti is transfigured from the balloons on the ceiling and it floats down whistling 'Here Comes The Bride' as it does. The groom and bride smile at each other happily, kissing passionately before catcalls separate them.<p>

A piano starts and the newlyweds stand up, going out to the dancefloor to start their first dance as husband and wife.

"I love you," Neville whispers in Luna's ear, a grin seemingly permanently on his face. She smiles back, kissing him on his lips with such love, most of the women in the room, and some of the little girls, sigh romantically.

She pulls back first and sighs also, putting her head on his shoulder as they swayed slowly to some slow, lovely Muggle song that was obviously Lavender Weasley's doing. "I love you too," She replies, closing her eyes.

He chuckles and smiles at all his friends who stood by the sidelines, laughing and beaming at him.

"It's funny, love," He starts, not caring that she's probably not listening. "That this all started at a wedding."

She lifts her head and looks up at him, her eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky. "Yeah, that is funny." He smiles slightly and twirls her unexpectedly and she laughs joyfully as he tugs her back to his body. It's still his favorite sound to hear and knowing that he'll hear everyday for the foreseeable future, he relishes in it.

The song stops and they pull away, hands still intertwined.

"Give it up for Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom!" Harry shouts from the side, Hermione laughing from beside him.

Neville cannot resist and pulls her into a strong embrace, planting one on her like he was going to die today.

At that moment, that moment as he kisses his wife in front of everyone who loves her, all he could think was, _If Mum and Dad could see me now, I know they'd be proud._


End file.
